The Girl with a Promise
by apersonwholikesgreen
Summary: Long ago, Ivy made a promise to one of the Heart Pirates. Now that she's finally free, it's time she fulfilled the promise.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. But Ivy is mine. You know, the person going "I, I, me".

-.- ^-^ -.-

Chapter One

Sabaody Archipelago is huge. It'd be nice if it shrank down a little- a good sense of direction is something I don't believe I've ever heard of. A good sense for getting lost, yes.

Which grove am I even in?

I poke my head around trees until I spy the number 18 posted on one of the trees.

Crap, isn't 1-27 the supposed "lawless" zone? Or was it 29?

Well, it's not like it matters. The person I'm looking for probably isn't going to be here, and I don't plan on being captured and sold off as a slave- after the little skirmish that left a gash in my left arm, I've been staying well out of sight. I don't have any bandages left to stop the bleeding.

As I wander off, looking for the bright yellow submarine that's probably going to be very difficult to get on, especially if he doesn't remember me, I think about why I'm here. A nine-year old promise. For me, it means almost the world. He may not even remember it.

Eh whatever. I guess I should just be thankful that I made it here at the same time as the Heart Pirates, and that they're famous enough that talk going around town tells me that they're here. I know he's a part of them. There's actually a lot of powerful pirates around right now. Eleven.

I continue walking. I should probably get out of the lawless area, I don't think the ship will be here, and I don't plan on meeting the crew face-to-face just yet and asking to join. As a short girl, I don't come off as much (I've learned that the hard way trying to board merchant ships to even get this far) and I don't want to cause a commotion in front of people trying to join a pirate crew. If I were to wait in front of their ship, though, I might be able to wheedle something out of the Heart Pirates' captain. If they're anxious to depart. Maybe luck will be on my side today.

This area's pretty quiet. There goes a World Noble on his slave. He's kind of fat. The noble, not the slave. It seems that in the end, blood gives power to everyone, just in different ways. My blood helps me fight. Their blood keeps them "above" everybody else.

Wait, I just passed a number.

I walk backwards to check where I've ended up. Hopefully, I'm out of the lawless zo-

Nope, lady luck doesn't like me at all, because I'm in Grove 1. Fantastic.

I sigh. I have a bad sense of direction and back luck. I always pick the exact wrong direction. Don't they have maps around here? Maps are a very useful invention, as long as they aren't too complicated.

Ah, there's the Human Auctioning House. From what I've heard, they sell all sorts of creatures so I wonder why they call it "human"?

I poke my head in, spot a polar bear and a fuzzy white cap beside it, and swiftly back out.

Nope, not going there. Like I said, I'll try to avoid a confrontation with the pirate crew I'd like to join until we're in private.

-.- ^-^ -.-

Half an hour later, I've finally found the right ship. Submarine. Same thing. It's name was related to magnets, I think. Polar?

Ha, polar bears. I remember the wanted posters for the Heart Pirates. Bepo.

Okay, that was random. I do that a lot. Probably why I switch topics so much during a conversation, now that I think about it.

I sit down by a tree near the ship. There aren't too many people around, so I don't bother pretending that I'm here for some specific sort of reason that has nothing to do with the Heart Pirates. And then I wait.

It doesn't take long.

I hear the Heart Pirates before I see them, and I instinctively pull my black cap lower. Fear gnaws at my stomach. What if he doesn't recognize me? What if he no longer cares?

 _Doesn't matter_ , I remind myself. Because I'm not here for me, I'm here because I once promised him that as soon as I was free, I'd join him and stay by his side. I never said forever, because that's impossible, but as best as I could, I'd support him. And so even if he no longer remembers, even if he'll never remember, even if he has no idea who the hell I am, I'm going to join the Heart Pirates. There is really only one thing left I live for, and this is it. Maybe someday that'll change, when I finally find a place in this world. But in the meantime, this promise is all I have, and I'm keeping it.

I can still hear them approaching. Second doubts fill my head. If I run now I can still escape.

I stop that line of thought right there and force myself not to chicken out. This may be my last chance to catch up to the Heart Pirates with the methods I consider within my reach. I doubt any merchant ships are willing to take me into the New World. And yes, I reached the end of Paradise by doing odd jobs on merchant ships for little pay.

I jerk myself out of my thoughts. There's no more time to worry anymore, because the Heart Pirates have come, all twenty...

Huh. Twenty-one now, they've got a huge new member.

"Captain, there's someone up front!"

Very observant person there.

Ah, wait, they might think I'm an enemy. I hold up my hands in surrender, to show I don't have weapons. Well, I do, tied to my arms and hidden by my baggy hoodie, but they don't have to know that.

"Who are you?" the Heart Pirate captain asks. The Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law. He isn't very nice about the questioning, but I do look pretty suspicious. Which is why I didn't bother approaching them in front of a lot of eye witnesses.

Might as well get straight to the point. "Can I join your crew?"

I sound stupid. Well, whatever, it's out there now, can't take it back anymore.

"Whaa?" the guy with the hat the reads PENGUIN asks. I wonder if he's hard of hearing.

"Why?" a few others ask, sounding a little _too_ shocked. I don't really know any of them, just the famous ones (Bepo, their captain) and the one I promised.

Although judging by the lack of reaction from the person I made the promise with, I doubt he remembers. My stomach curls into itself. I remind myself that it doesn't matter.

"I-" I begin, wondering what to say that'll convince their captain to let me join (he's probably the one who'll make the decision, anyway).

There's a loud explosion.

Law curses.

No, Trafalgar. San. Cuz I don't know him well, not really. Ten years, and you'd think this language would come easier to me by now.

"We don't have time for this," Trafalgar-san growls. God, that sounds weird. I'll just call him Trafalgar Law, and then if he lets me join I'll think of something else. It'll probably be "Captain", judging from the limited conversation I've heard so far between him and his crew.

"What do we do with her then, Captain?" the polar bear asks.

He glances at me. Sizing me up, I guess, figuring out how much of a threat I am. Smart, and it makes me glad for my appearance at times like this, but someone as smart as him may be weary of even that.

"Leave her-" he's beginning to say, much to my detriment. I'm not that weak, but I'm not sure I'll be powerful enough to force my way onto their ship, and that's not something I want to happen anyway.

"Let's take her! If she wants to join, she won't harm us," Bepo says.

I am suddenly immensely grateful for the existence of naive polar bears.

Trafalgar Law stares at his crew mate, probably about to point out the flaw in the bear's logic.

"Let's just see what she wants," the PENGUIN one says. "We can just dump her off if she bothers us. Or Captain can take care of her."

Well they're a pleasant bunch.

Trafalgar Law is scowling. He's probably thinking something along the lines of what-if-she's-a-spy (from what I've heard he's now powerful enough that what-if-she's-strong-but-not-well-known shouldn't cross his mind), but there's another explosion just then. He must deem whatever's causing them a bigger threat than the suspicious me, because he relents.

"Fine, get on," he says.

 _Yes!_ I cheer inwardly as I crowd on with the other twenty-one Heart Pirates. I'm halfway there. Now, if only I could convince Trafalgar Law to keep me as a member of his crew...

-.- ^-^ -.-

A/N: Hi. Sorry if it's bad, this is my first fanfiction. I might not follow the original storyline perfectly cuz I have bad memory and am too lazy to refresh it half the time. And cuz I forgot or get confused about a lot of details.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Or any of the characters. Or anything. Except this plot and Ivy, the narrator.

-.- ^-^ -.-

Chapter Two

The ship- submarine, whatever- is very cold. Would it kill them to turn up the heat? Or, since I somehow can't seem to believe that it's naturally so cold in here when it's all sunny and warm outside on Sabaody Archipelago, you'd think they wouldn't bother wasting the energy on AC.

Hm, what do you do to get AC in a submarine? Burn gas? Do submarines even use gas? Some other weird form of power?

Homeschooling is a sad thing if I can't even answer that after twenty-four years of age.

Trafalgar Law is barking something. I suddenly realize that if he's talking to me, this could be very bad, so I tune back in.

Oh, he's talking to Bepo. He wants to depart. A bear as a navigator. Interesting. Bepo asks where to go, and Trafalgar Law tells him just to get away from Sabaody Archipelago for now, so that the Navy doesn't get too close.

Bepo hurries off, and Trafalgar Law turns to me.

" **Room** ," he says. A transparent blue film in the shape of a sphere surrounds him and me. He unsheathes his sword.

Shoot, did he decide to just kill me anyway?

My hands go to a certain item in the back pocket of my skinny jeans. It would certainly persuade him to let me stay, but only if the person who I promised still remembers. And if he doesn't, then it'd be a bad idea to bring it out.

In a split second, I decide that best case scenario, he'd let me stay, and worst case, I'd feel very stupid. No, I don't want him to see it after all, not until I can confirm something.

I tense as Trafalgar Law lifts his sword, but he doesn't slash just yet, holding it upright instead.

" **Scan** ," he says. The second it's out of his mouth, I realize what he intends to do. He'll see my item, unless I hide it. Good thing I have that gash now from that fight earlier. I lost 10% due to carelessness, and 10% is the perfect amount to make this very inconspicuous.

My knives and the string I use to bind them to my arms drop out of thin air behind him, clattering to a rest on the metal floor of the submarine. I must've managed in time, because the item I wanted to hide does not follow them- and since it's technically a weapon, if I hadn't managed to successfully hide it, I'm sure Trafalgar Law would have taken it away.

The blue film shrinks away.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Trafalgar Law asks me. He's smirking now that my weapons are gone. No, that's not right, he's been smirking since before that, even, ever since he sent Bepo scurrying.

"My name is Ivy," I reply. "And I'm here because I'd like to join the Heart Pirates."

"Full name," Trafalgar Law says, narrowing his eyes at me. He leans back against the steel wall, folding his arms around his long sword. Huge thing, it's nearly his size.

Legally, my name is Yamada Masako. But I hate that name because of who it reminds me of.

"Just Ivy," I say firmly. I've had plenty of time to use this new name, because it's how I've introduced myself to the merchants who I've helped. I'm not going to use my old name anymore.

He frowns at me for a while longer.

Most of the crew has already moved on even though only Bepo has been ordered to leave (and whoever is helping him navigate), but about five or so stay behind, staring at me from near the entrance.

"Why do you want to join the Heart Pirates?" Trafalgar Law asks.

I should probably tell the truth for this question, though I don't want to go into the specifics. I can't think of any convincing lie on the spot, anyway.

"I promised someone something," I mutter vaguely.

It's easy to avoid eye contact, since my black cap is pulled low over my eyes. It's not so easy to ignore the feeling of his eyes drilling a hole through me.

He studies me for a while longer, and I hope that he accepts my answer, because I don't have a better one to give, not to him, not to anyone else on this ship. He seems to accept it, though, because he moves on.

"Well, what can you do, Ivy-ya?" he asks. His smirk has returned.

Geez, he likes interrogating people. It makes sense, he's letting a stranger onto his ship after all, but I kind of wish I could slink past most of the questions. Like this one, because I can't really do much of anything. Not very well, at least.

"Uh..." is my reply. "I can cook? And... Well, you have a ton of people here, I'm sure not all of them have specific jobs..."

He smirk widens at my answer, and that one too seems to pass, because then he asks, "How good are you at fighting?"

"That depends on how you look at it," I point out. "I might think I fight well, but against certain opponents I'd do terribly. Plus, by your standards I might be a crappy fighter."

He raises his eyebrows. "So you can't fight."

"I never said that." I'm careful to keep my tone very mild.

"You had a very roundabout way of saying it."

"Maybe that's my way of saying I can kick ass. You know, being good at something is a subjective thing."

He's still smiling. "Sure. In that case, I'll see how good I think you are at the next island. Until then you can stay, but you're not a part of the crew yet."

Yay. Ish.

"Penguin," he says. "Show her to the sleeping quarters. Jean Bart, too."

Wow, he even has a penguin in his crew?

The guy in the PENGUIN hat responds. "Yes, Captain. Anywhere in specific I should put them?"

My bad, how was I supposed to know Penguin was a name?

"Just give them an empty bed."

Penguin nods, then turns to me and the giant. "Follow me."

We do, and he leads us to a large room.

"This is where we all sleep," Penguin explains. "Captain's room is that way." He gestures vaguely to the left, then glances at me apologetically. "I guess you'll be sleeping with us."

I shrug. In the merchant ships, they always kept men and women separate, but I don't really care. In fact, I've been wondering why people separate the sleeping areas by gender. Women snore just as much as men (sometimes), so it can't be about being quiet.

Penguin points at an empty bed nearest to the door. "That's yours, Ivy." He points at another one, towards the center of the room. "Yours, Jean Bart."

Then the three of us all stare at each other. Jean Bart makes no effort to talk, Penguin seems to be at a loss for what to say, and I am beginning to feel regretful about that nine-year promise that shouldn't even mean anything anymore. There's really no reason for me to be here, and I probably wouldn't be, if only I had a life to return to.

The silence stretches and grows awkward.

"Uh," Penguin says, trying to break the quiet. "I'll show you guys where we eat?"

The two of us shrug, so he leads us back out of the hallway to a large room. There's a few tables pushed together, so that everyone can eat at once I guess and two doors, one on the other end of the room, one on the right (well, it's more of a doorway, because there isn't actually a door, it's just a rectangular hole in the wall leading to another room).

"That leads to the deck," Penguin says, pointing to the one up front. "You know, outside. So don't try to open the door or anything right now, because we're submerged."

He seems to be looking at me at that last part. I wonder if he thinks I'll try to kill everyone by letting water in. Or maybe he thinks I'm just that stupid.

"That one," he points to the door-less opening on the right, "leads to the kitchen. We don't really have a chief."

"Then how do you eat?" I ask. "Somehow, eating raw food doesn't seem all that healthy."

"Well, we have one, but he's not too good at making good food," Penguin corrects himself. "Anyway, you said you can cook, so you'll probably be helping out in the kitchens. Captain won't like it if you aren't doing anything, and you are the one who asked to join us, you know."

"I know," I reply. "I wasn't planning on freeloading anyway."

"I don't want to freeload either," the giant, Jean Bart, says. "Can I speak with your navigator? I have knowledge of how to steer a ship, and a submarine shouldn't be too different."

"Sure," Penguin says. "I'll go get him. You want to come?"

Jean Bart nods, and Penguin turns to me.

I glance at the clock on the wall. It's late afternoon, and although I usually prefer to eat late meals, I somehow don't think that will be the case here. "I guess I'll go help out in the kitchen?"

Penguin nods and they leave.

I poke my head into the doorway at the right. "Uh, hi?"

A guy comes into view, holding a potato in one hand and a knife in the other. He stares at me for a moment before recognition sets in. "The girl who wanted to join."

"Ivy," I say. "I'm going to be here for a while, until your captain decides if he's going to kick me off or not. For now I'm helping out in the kitchen."

"Cool," the guy says. "Yuki. Help me peel the potatoes."

Lot of words, huh. Okay. Sure. I don't mind.

We don't make conversation as I take up a knife and also begin to slice the skin off the potatoes. I find myself wondering where my two pocket knives are, the ones I usually have folded up and tied to my arms and hidden out of sight. Trafalgar Law used his ability to take them away from me and I hadn't made a move to take them back. If he decides to keep me, he'll probably give them back, so I can fight properly, but will I get them back if he decides to dump me at the next island?

Before long the potatoes are peeled and Yuki gives me instructions in a few short words again.

It's not too bad, the silence. At least with him it isn't awkward. But I hope that dinner is a bit louder than the process of making it.

-.- ^-^ -.-

A/N: So a bit of filler I guess, to introduce Ivy to the crew? I don't know if it can be filler though since I haven't really planned this story out, haha...

Yuki is a character I just made up cuz the Heart Pirates aren't mentioned too much so far. If that changes in the future... Well, sorry.


End file.
